Window Tint Laws in Pennsylvania
Laws change. Verify current requirements with your local DMV/RMV before choosing or installing film. This is not legal advice.
VLT is visible light transmission: lower percentages mean darker windows. A film's labeled shade is not necessarily the finished glass-plus-film reading. The limits below cover ordinary passenger cars unless stated otherwise.
- Front side windows
- At least 70% total light transmission.
- Rear side windows
- At least 70% total light transmission, including pre-1998 passenger cars.
- Back window
- 1998 and newer passenger cars: at least 70% total light transmission. Pre-1998 passenger cars: VESC-20 standard; no universal percentage substituted here.
- Windshield strip
- At least 70% total light transmission under the PennDOT table; no separate strip exception established by this fact sheet.
Vehicle class and conditions
Measurement basis: NET: total minimum light transmittance
SUV, van and multipurpose-vehicle rear sides: No transmission requirement in the PennDOT table for trucks and qualifying multipurpose passenger vehicles.
SUV, van and multipurpose-vehicle back window: No transmission requirement in the PennDOT table for trucks and qualifying multipurpose passenger vehicles.
- Official April 2025 fact sheet directly supplies the window-by-window table; no redundant independently retrieved Table X is required to support these qualified agency-guidance values.
- PennDOT defines multipurpose passenger vehicles here as built on a truck chassis or specifically designed for occasional off-road use; body style or marketing label alone does not establish eligibility.
- The fact sheet lists pre-1998 passenger-car back glass as VESC-20 (with a footnote marker); the retrieved text does not provide its operative details. Do not apply the 1998-and-newer 70% back-glass figure to older cars without checking that standard.
- PennDOT says tint is not checked during inspection, but unlawful tint can still result in a highway stop and citation.
- Medical exemptions described by PennDOT are for colorless products filtering ultraviolet light, not an invented dark-tint VLT allowance.
Sources and verification
Official source: PennDOT official Vehicle Window Tint fact sheet (April 2025). Reviewed 2026-10-29. Laws and agency guidance can change after this review.
Laws change. Verify current requirements with your local DMV/RMV before choosing or installing film. This is not legal advice.